Love Lessons
by Professor-FickleBottom
Summary: He's back in the medieval ages- back to a time where he loved so strongly and so foolishly. Will the same mistakes be repeated this time? Renruki


_A love cursed by the endless_ _cycle of birth and rebirth. What will it take to end this cruel cycle, who will have to suffer?_

Love Lessons

The night was cold, the wind was fierce but he was determined, unstirred by the hardships that lay ahead. With every gallop he neared the large arches of the city's eastern gates, the dark clouds brewed. This route would lead him straight past the worst moment of his life. But still he did not detour.

From what he could gather Kisuke Urahara's new invention had been a success. He had been taken back to one of his past lives, back to the medieval ages. He was on a mission, to seek what had first fuelled Aizens desire to control. Maybe if he could find that out he could prevent the suffering that had occurred in the recent years.

The captains, the squads had all been perished. The various people that were left were all in hiding and this was their only chance. He adnn six others had been entrusted with this mission, however dangerous it was, he couldn't turn back now. o

From what he could gather the new invention Kisuke Urahara had made seemed to have worked successfully. He had been taken back to one of his past lives, back to the medieval times. He was on a mission to seek what had first fuelled Aizens desire for control.

Renji wasn't quiet sure as to why Aizen had done what he had either. Aizen had once been a man Renji had greatly respected. He was a role model to Renji. A kind generous man that had the ability to make even the bitterest of men smile. What had become of said man was what he was here to find out. And what better way to do so then with Kisuke Urahara's new invention. A time travel machine.

This machine had been programed to take him back to the key points in time in which a strong manifestation of Aizen's _desire_ had taken shape. But of course his first stop had to be here. The birthplace of his undying curse of _her._ It wasn't as if he could've just gone back to the period in which no one even knew of Aizen. Before even his darkest desires had manifested. But unfortunately the Soul Society did things the old fashioned way. The needed someone to blame for this incident. Someone to point the finger to. And it was his job to find such person.

He rode straight through the city gates and into the busy market place. Retracing his familiar steps to his old cottage. Oh how long it had been since he had been to this place. He still remembered everything about it.

There was a bakery down the street where his brother and him had eaten breakfast every morning, before heading off to the mines. In the main city square, there was a library positioned exactly opposite to the large wooden halls that led to the city council space. This had been the place he'd go to hide every evening after supper, skimming through countless books in search of poetry to read _her_. He had many memories of this little period in time. But none as fond as the time spent in the abandoned field, divided by the sparkling river of Inzuri. That was the place they had first met.

*FLASHBACK*

It had been a hot day in the mines today. He only hoped his brother was doing okay with his illness. The kid was very sensitive to the changes in weather. He almost died the last time they had gone out on a horse riding trip in fall. His skin had gone a shade of light purple as the first signs of winter arrived early. And by the time they had gotten back the snow had made it almost unbearable to step outside. His brother had gotten very sick by this stage and required almost daily monitation by the city's doctor. They hadn't been out riding since. And for good reason, Renji couldn't bare seeing his brother in that state ever again.

As the heat scortched on Renji had decided it'd be a good idea to go for a little swim in the river. Just for a little while anyway.

It had taken him almost 3days to reach the city on horseback. His horse -who had been but a stranger to him until just a few days ago- complained the whole way there. He had found her in the paddocks of one of the wealthiest farmers alive and she recognised him immediately; it would've been 5months since he had abandoned her, it was incredible that she could even remember him. She had grown lazy after he left, her thighs were much bulkier now and she found it incredibly hard to walk anywhere, let alone stand. Her name was Annabelle after the land in which she was raised. Renji had stumbled along her in the one of the poorest districts of the city; she had bitten the daughter of a prestigious family and had been sentenced to death. If he hadn't found her when he did she probably would've been killed. It took some work (and money) but he had managed to convince them to spare her life. When he had first mounted her, she had wailed and reared, causing trouble wherever she went. It had taken him almost 3months to train her! Renji usually had a knack with animals- horses in particular- but she had been a real stubborn one. But he kinda liked that about her, she had a personality of her own and it was the horse 'she' had begged him to save.

He saw the 4 mortal kids wondering around the market place in broad daylight, wearing their usual modern clothes and louder than ever.

Did they know nothing?

Renji liked the mortal kids well enough. They were here out of pure goodwill, only trying to help wherever they could. But sometimes he felt they could really use their heads a little; their modern clothes definitely needed to go.

Tatsuki had a fierce solid personality. Uruyu- although he wouldn't be Renji's first pick on a team- he had an impressive head on his shoulders, wise beyond his years. Chad was a real quiet guy, but he sure could pack a punch. And Orihime had to been one of the biggest airheads he knew, she reminded him of Rangiku a lot-also not bad to look at. They were a good mix, each of them had their own quirky personality but they all seemed to pull together when it counted. Thank god that obnoxious little brat Ichigo wasn't here.

But after all they were just kids; he felt that they should be back in their own time, where their actions wouldn't cause any historic catastrophes. He would just need to keep them out of trouble for now, just until he finished his investigation in the era. Then he could escort them back to where they belonged. He needed something to do anyway, especially in this particular era.

He dropped Annabelle off at the stable for a quick rest while he hiked into the city to gather some materials needed for the trip up the mountain. Thhis would be a good time to start looking for clues. The city's main structure was built entirely of stone; he followed the line of wooden houses south this would lead him towards his old small cottage where he first encountered Aizen (in this era).

He lived his life freely across many different points in time, for centuries nothing really mattered he just went along with the flow of time just enjoying the ride while it lasted. That had all changed when he met her, a thousand centuries ago in this very city; they had first fallen in love. This was the birthplace of their love, a love that would soon flourish over tens and thousands of centuries. He had learnt a lot over time, he was no longer that foolish hot-headed man everyone thought of him as. Love had changed him, scarred him.

He arrived at his old cottage, the entire front of the building was trapped under thick luck vines, moss covered the slick stone walls, however the old wooden door remained untouched. It was still exactly the same, Renji was never a man that cared about appearances this obviously reflected upon the condition his house was in, for him as long as it works it was perfectly fine and the door served its purpose just fine. He entered the small building, clothes littered the floor and the horrible stench of….was that sex, intoxicated the air. He heard loud moans coming from upstairs, it had to be his ex-roommate of the era none other than Shuhei Hisagi himself. _Ah geez he just never changes._

He opened all of the windows in a failed attempt to get rid of that awful stench. _All I have to do is find some clues, and then I'm out!_ _He_ looked around the room, Aizen must've left behind something he just needed something to get a lead on a journal, sketch pad, diary. He started shifting through piles of Shuhei's junk dirty clothes, old books, pots, pans, rags, _how did one person own so much crap_? What disturbed him most was the disgusting collection of women's panties he kept of all the women he had laid, some kind of sick trophy. The afternoon dragged along and before he realised the evening had snuck up on him, the noises from upstairs had finally stopped and Renji was just about ready to give up. But then he spotted what seemed to be one of Aizens old journals, it was old and thick hidden under one of the loose floorboards. He gently yanked it out of the hole and took a good look at it _Love's scar_ He couldn't help the disappointment that formed in his stomach, it wasn't Aizen's journal. It was the first book he had written about them it had been so long ago that he had forgotten it even existed. He flipped through the yellow pages of the book; this was their history, details of their curse laid hidden in the pages of this book, but it wasn't what he came here for. Defeated Renji decided to call it a day; he tucked the old book safely away in the pocket of his Shihakusho and exited the building, it was around 7pm now his stomach growled angrily, he was starving! He couldn't ignore his stomach any longer, so he headed for the busy streets of the market place; it was a lot cooler at night. The market place was pretty full on, hundreds of people crammed into one tiny space and stalls lined crowded streets fighting for customers, it was complete chaos! People were starting to setup decorations for St. Valentine's Faire tomorrow night, heart shaped stones hung on the windowsills of houses, scented rose petals littered the ground and thousands of lanterns hung across the city. St. Valentine's Faire was in full bloom. He walked towards the crowd of gathering people _hmm what's going on?_ He slowly pushed his way through the crowd and since he was a lot taller than everyone else he could easily see without having to make the whole trip to the front of the crowd.

"Last chance ladies!" He heard a bearded man shout

He leaned down and nudged the women next to him

"Excuse me miss, could ya tell me what's goin' on?"

"They're getting the last of the names into Cupid's Urn" She said, then disappeared back into the crowd.

 _Cupid's urn. That's right, another one of those silly mortal traditions. Before Valentines was Valentines it had been called Lupercalia, a festival to celebrate fertility. All the eligible women in the city were to write their name on a piece of paper and place it in the urn. Then on the day of the festival all the bachelors in town would draw out a name and whomever they had chosen would be their sweetheart for the year. Such a barbaric thing to do who the hell would let their fate be told by some urn? Sometimes the things mortals did were just outrageous._

His stomach growled again, reminding him of its ever so annoying need to be filled. He spotted the old bakery and had to stop himself from flash stepping through its window, after regaining composure he headed towards the bakery. God, the smells he was greeted with were amazing! There was nothing that competed with the smell of freshly baked bread.

"Welcome mister" The familiar voice of Momo chimed. "How can I help you mister?"

It took some willpower for him not to blurt out: everything!

"Biggest loaf ya have and some good ol' Barely beer thanks!" He replied, hoping he didn't sound like a complete douche.

"Coming right up!"

He watched as her medieval self, went to work in the kitchen. She had short brown hair-in this era- tied up in a simple pony tail and she wore the traditional medieval clothes, she looked a lot younger here, naïve even. She picked the biggest loaf in the over, poured him some Barely Beer placed it on a tray and passed it over the counter.

"Here you go mister, that's 2pence mister"

He handed her the coins and took a seat by the window. This searching randomly through era thing wasn't working as of far, so he needed to devise a plan fast before he missed my chance. Time to get thinking.

 _So far I can't seem to get a hit on Aizen, he left nothin' behin' in our ol' cottage, so where else could I check?_

The answer was simple enough, the castle. Aizen seemed to fancy big fantastic things like that. He was probably extra happy about the ginormous one in this city, perfect for him to plan. The only problem was…..her.


End file.
